He grunts, squirming free. “Fuck off!”
We step into the bar, and Paddy is standing on top of a table, a pint of Guinness in one hand as he chugs a shot with the other. It’s only eight in the evening and he’s already so trashed, he won’t remember a single thing tomorrow.
I chuckle, though I’m disgusted. “Bloody hell, he is like a college girl gone wild.”
Sean laughs, then points to the corner of the room at a woman sitting with Michael Griffin. “That’s her. Bet you can’t get her either, asshole.”
Griffin and Paddy deployed to Afghanistan together four years ago. We grew up together and when Paddy left for his first deployment, Michael didn’t hesitate to sign up, too.
The woman’s honey brown curls fall around her face, and she laughs at something he says, grabbing his wrist and squeezing it.
Her smile sends me into a tizzy. My chest swells as I watch her from a distance, and I have to have her. I know Michael isn’t competition for me. He swings for the other team, so I head over to say hello.
″Callum Murphy,” Michael says, wrapping his arm around the woman tightly.
″Michael. It’s good to see you. How is your mother?”
His jaw clenches at the mention of his mother. His father was an employee of ours that was killed in a drive-by shooting, and he still blames our family for the death, despite my father paying off their house and sending his mother a monthly stipend for her loss.
″She’s ill. Breast cancer,” he bites. “If only my father were here to help her.”
″Yes, if only,” I say. “Who’s your friend?”
″This is Haley. Haley, this is Callum.”
They’re sitting in the same booth, so I slide in the seat across from them.
Haley gives me a quick timid look. I smile softly, attempting to come across as someone that’s not threatening, even though I’m the worst man in the city. She appears shy, and I don’t want to scare her away before I’ve had the chance to get her in my bed. Sean said she told him to fuck off, but she doesn’t seem the sassy type.
″Hullo, Haley. Nice to meet you, lass. You know Paddy then?” I purposely let my accent show a bit stronger because women love it. Maybe it will ease her if she doesn’t see me as a threat.
She glances back at me, as she says shyly, “I do.”
″Don’t be shy, Savi. Tell the man. Paddy is his little brother after all.”
She has a nickname. I lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “Tell me what?”
Haley shakes her head, eyes wide as she stares at Griffin. “Shut up.”
″It’s his brother, Savi,” Griffin nudges her with his elbow.
Haley huffs, picking at the label on her beer bottle. “I’m here to forget about work. I don’t want to share war stories.”
Griffin ignores her, turning to me. “Haley saved Paddy’s life. She’s a trauma surgeon. When he had a ten-inch piece of metal gouged in it, she sliced open his leg and fixed him up, right in the middle of the action. If it weren’t for her, Paddy would be missing a leg or worse.”
Griffin’s arm wraps around her shoulder, a proud grin spread across his face.
Paddy came home from his deployment early because of that injury. He never mentioned how or what happened, and we didn’t push him. I always figured he would tell us when he was ready. Now it’s been four years and he pretends it never happened, even when he still walks with a stiff sway in his step.
I inhale sharply as I look into her eyes. This woman saved my brother. He may be damaged, the ghosts of war haunting him, but he still has blood coursing through his veins because of her. Fuck, he’s dancing like an idiot right now, standing on the bar top as he celebrates his birthday. And I’m sitting across from the person I’ll never be able to properly thank.
I owe her for making sure he came home to Ma. She couldn’t bear to lose another child.
″Just doing my job,” she says. She rolls her eyes, though her cheeks seem to turn red. From embarrassment maybe?
″We should toast to that,” I say. I raise my hand to get the attention of a bartender. They know already to bring over a bottle of whiskey and some empty glasses.
″I won’t say no to a free glass,” Haley says.